Fridge Storage Ideas: The Refrigerator Organization Process

Having a disorganized fridge is frustrating, yucky and costly. When your fridge is a mess, things can't be identified and/or found. This leads to uncleanliness, food expiring (and therefore being wasted) and the unnecessary purchase of more.

Below you'll find tips on getting your fridge clean and organized, a system for maintaining this awesomeness and photos of my refrigerator. Happy reading and organizing!

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The Refrigerator Organization Process

• Decide if each item is worth keeping by asking yourself appropriate questions (Is this expired?).

• As you make decisions, put the item in the corresponding pile, bag or box - Keep, Recycle or Trash.

•
Take out the trash when you're done with the purging session. This
hinders the possibility of undoing your hard fridge organizer work.

SORT:

•
You have pared down, and now you can focus on what's left. Sort the
remaining items into categories that make sense to you (i.e. dressings,
condiments, cheeses and deli meats, beverages, breakfast, leftovers).

**Note:
You can combine the Purge and Sort steps. After you've decided to keep
the item in your hand, put it on the counter with other like items. For
example, put all of your salad dressings together, all the cheeses and
meats together and so on.**

• Since your refrigerator is empty
now, take this opportunity to give it a good cleaning. Wipe down every
shelf and drawer for a sparkly, fresh fridge.

STORE:

•
Put your sorted refrigerator items back into the fridge by assigning
each section a category (i.e. the door is for condiments and dressings,
top shelf is for drinks, second shelf is for leftovers, cheeses and deli
meats go in one of the refrigerator drawers, etc.).

This is my fridge! As you can see in the right photo, condiments are on the door according to size and I also have a packet organizer(on the second shelf).

In the left photo, I have clear handled baskets on the top shelf for easy access to those items, leftovers in clear food storage containers on the second shelf, canned beverages below that and deli meats and cheeses in the drawer. I can see and get to everything. Love it!

• Take into consideration those in your
household. For example, you may want to put your child's snacks on a
shelf that can be reached.

• Use erasable labels on
food storage containers to easily identify what the item is and how long
it's been in the fridge.

•
Get into the habit of putting things back in their appropriate sections
in the fridge and storing leftovers in easy-to-identify containers
(with labels, if necessary).

• Every few weeks, go through your
refrigerator to toss expired items and rearrange stuff if necessary.
This is also a good time to wipe down the fridge and give it a quick
cleaning. Doing this regularly means any dirtiness or stickiness can't
build up to the point of having to break a sweat to clean it up. This
keeps your fridge fresh and organized on a regular basis!

Fridge Storage Products

Refrigerator storage products are very useful for organizing a kitchen and will help you achieve and maintain neatness!

TellFresh Containers
These airtight kitchen storage organizers are excellent for food storage. They are safe for freezer storage, for the refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave!

Clear Handled Storage Baskets
An awesome product, these plastic storage baskets have handles for easy access. I use them in my refrigerator to hold some of the miscellaneous items that don't fit anywhere else like marinades.

Stainless Steel Turntable
I love turntables, and they are useful all over the house (i.e. can storage in the pantry)! Can't see what's in the back of the fridge? Perhaps you need a turntable on one of the shelves for bottles and other tall items.

Erasable Food Labels
These labels are erasable for many uses and safe for the fridge, freezer, microwave and dishwasher. Never wonder what those leftovers are again!

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